


Departures and arrivals

by WilwyWaylan



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: And a bit of fluff, Gen, a boy and his dog and his plane, and Poe being charming as usual, just two old friends meeting, modern AU of course
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-25 03:54:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14370351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WilwyWaylan/pseuds/WilwyWaylan
Summary: Poe certainly isn't ready to meet again with his long-lost friend Ben, who disappeared from his life nine years ago. Luckily, Ben's grandmother might make things easier for him.





	Departures and arrivals

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little something based on my favourite trope : "Ben admires Amidala instead of Anakin and wants to follow her steps".

Poe stepped down the plane, happy to feel a solid ground beneath his feet. He liked flying - scratch that, he loved flying, more than anything else in the world - but there was a moment when you were happy to just walk on a tarmac, and not try to balance a who-knew-how-many-tons machine way, way above the ground.

Behind him, his dog jumped on the floor. He stopped just long enough for Poe to pat him on the head, then ran forwards. Poe didn't bother calling him back. He knew that BB-8 wouldn't run more than a few meters ahead of him. And the dog was like him ; after having been stuck in a cockpit for hours, he was very eager to stretch his legs. Poe followed him, taking his leasure time, enjoying the sun on his back. A gentle breeze started blowing, ruffling his hair just the right way. Behind him, someone wolf-whistled. Poe waved at him, and followed his dog inside the building, smiling all the way.

He stepped inside, enjoying the cool air after the warmth of the sun. The hall was mostly empty, just a few groups here and there, waiting for flying lessons, goods to retrieve, or a few short-distance flights. Good, he wouldn't have to hide in the office in the back, waiting for the place to be less crowded. Not that he didn't like people, he usually liked them very much and the more he was around, the merrier. But a man needed his alone time after work, especially after flying for five hours with no music.

After swinging by the office to confirm he had landed safely and grab something to drink, he went back outside, to take care of his plane and park it away. He was crossing the tarmac again, BB-8 bouncing on his heels, when he spotted a small group coming down another plane on another lane. This wasn't anything out of the ordinary. The small airport was used by quite a number of private planes, and it wasn't unusual to see vastly different people walk around, from sharp-dressed businessmen holding briefcases like they held the secret of the universe (or plans for very important weapons), to people already (or still) in vacation mood, wearing gaudy shirts, pareos and flower necklaces. Poe loved watching them, trying to imagine where they came from or were going, what was on their minds at this instant.

But people like these ones... he'd never, ever seen anyone remotely like them. Three of them were quite unremarkable, with dark clothes, elegant but rather simple. His eyes quickly slid over them to land on the other two. Leading the group was a small, older woman, dressed in a beautiful, complicated red dress. The heavy fabric was swishing around her and pooling at her feet, the large sleeves falling past her wrists, almost to her knees. The gold it was embroidered with was shining under the sun, sending little glints like a fistful of stars. She was wearing a dark cloak, closed around her throat by a large broach. Her hair was pinned in a complicated bun, by a dozen metallic hairpins fanning around her hair, like a halo. From them, a delicate circlet hung, going around her head to join at a crescent moon resting on her forehead. Her face was painted white, and ornated with several symetric marks in blood red.

She turned to say something to the one standing behind her. From what he could see, Poe thought that they might be related. The man had the same dark hair, but his was shorter, falling on his shoulders. Several golden chains were circling his head in the same way of the woman's hairpiece, and he was wearing the same crescent. His clothes resseambled hers too, falling to his feet. His opened at the belt, on a pair of pants and knee-high leather boots. The fabric was black instead of red, but similarly adorned with gold thread. Strangely, while the outfit was closed at the neck with a high collar, his shoulders were bare. He was wearing the same make-up as the woman, stricking red on white.

Poe watched them cross the tarmac. There was something about them, something that rang a very faraway bell. But he'd be darned if he could find what. Had he already seen them somewhere else ? Did he know them ? No. He would remember it, if he counted such elegant persons among his aquaintances. Then again...

Until they walked past him, and he could see the man's profile in greater detail. He knew that face, the long nose, the high cheekbones, and the dark brown eyes with their weird, intense stare. But last time he had seen him, the man was... well, not a man yet. Smaller than him, with short-ish hair reaching his ears. Too quickly grown-up, and scrawny too. Nothing to do with the tall, muscular man in beautiful garb. Before he could stop himself, Poe waved and yelled :

\- Hey, Ben ! Hello !

The man didn't just stop walking, he _froze_  in place. Foot hovering a few inches above the ground, arms bent at an awkward angle. Very slowly, he put his foot down, and turned to face him. He stared - glared - at him for a few seconds, then opened his mouth, probably to tell him to go fuck himself. But the lady besides him, who Poe now recognized as Ben's grandmother, was faster than him. She smiled at him, and held out her hand.

\- Poe Dameron, it's been a while.

Poe took the offered hand, and bent down to kiss it. Dialing the charm up couldn't hurt him, right ? Especially with at least four people watching him like a bunch of black-dressed hawks.

\- Mrs Amidala, he stated, it's always a pleasure.

She was a little smaller than in his memory, or was it he who had grown up ? Probably. Still, she had the same impressive presence that he remembered, and he felt oddly self-conscious under her gaze.

\- And how are you ? she asked when he finally let go of her hand.

\- Fine. I just got off my plane, and I was going to take care of it, when I saw you and decided to say hello.

Amidala wisely didn't adress that he called Ben across the tarmac and not her, and instead followed his gesture towards the small plane.

\- Oh, you've become a pilot ?

Poe tried not to beam too much. He was very tempted to glance at Ben to see if he was admiring him too, or at least looking at him, but that would probably have blown in his face. He kept focused on Amidala, who was graciously admiring his craft.

\- My, she said, you can be proud of yourself. I'm sure you're a fantastic pilot.

\- The best, of course, ma'am, he answered with an exagereted drawl and a small bow. Would you like to witness by yourself ?

\- I would love to, really. But sadly, we need to go.

\- Well, he mock-sighed, I can take a raincheck on that one.

Amidala smiled politely. She walked back to her grandson, then turned back, as if forgetting something.

\- Say, dear, why don't you come for a cup of tea, one of these days ? This way, you could tell us about piloting, and about this little guy here too.

BB-8 looked very pleased with the attention. Poe did his best to ignore his heart suddenly jumping.

\- I would love to. Here, let me give you my number...

He patted his pockets, despite knowing perfectly well that they were totally devoid of any writing implement. One of Amidala's followers took pity on him, and with a theatrical eyeroll, handed him a pen and a piece of paper. Poe quickly scribbled his number. He went to hand it back to Amidala, noticed that she didn't seem to have any pockets to put it in, and gave it back to her advisor. Amidala watched him with a gentle smile.

\- I hope we'll see you soon, she said when he was finally done.

\- With pleasure, of course.

She bent down to pat BB-8's head, bid Poe goodbye, and left, followed by her suite. Poe watched them go, admiring their elegance and poise. He was ready to resume his work, when Ben glanced at him over his shoulder. Just a fraction of a second ; when he realized that Poe was still looking at him, he hastily turned back and hurried after his grandmother. The distance between them could be misleading, but were his cheeks a bit pinker ?

There was a poke against his leg, and Poe looked at the dog pressing himself against him. He bent down to pat him, and announced :

\- Right, buddy. Why don't we get that plane sorted so that we can go home ?

BB-8 dashed towards the plane, and Poe followed. He was happy to have seen Amidala, of course, she always had a soft spot for him, since the day he met her daughter, in fact. Spending some time chatting with her would surely be very enjoyable. Even more enjoyable with Ben around. Not that he would say it out loud, of course. But a small part of him hoped that he would be there when Poe would be invited. That would be nice too, to see him, chat with him, maybe ? They had be friends, a long time ago, before The Great Fight No One Talked About. Before Ben disappeared from his life - and everyone's, really.

Of course, Poe didn't let himself harbour any illusions. That strange, tall man with his closed-off expression didn't have much in common with the Ben he had known and befriended. He was a different person, with different ideas. And Poe's idea of him had been marred beyond all hopes of repair by what had happened. But the small glance Ben had thrown him before leaving seemed to have a strange effect on him. Nothing strong, like he was used to when a man was looking at him. He hadn't been struck to the bone, breath catching in his throat. He hadn't felt the earth stop spining under his feet.

But it had sparked... a longing. A want. Poe wanted to know him. Wanted to learn to know him again. Wanted to discover everything that had changed in him, and what was still the same. Not dig too deep, to the reasons that made him as he was now, and certainly not to the reasons that made him leave all those years before. But start something new. He knew he couldn't go back in time and find his friend again. But there had been something in Ben's eye, that made him think that maybe, he could make a new friend. Start at square one and go from there. He knew Ben could not want, and push him away. There were probably several reasons why he wouldn't want to talk to him again. But, Poe thought while walking behind BB-8, there was no harm in trying, right ? Right. After all, fortune smiled to those who were daring, and Poe was nothing but daring. Fortune would not let him down. Whistling a little tune, he shoved his hands in his pockets and skipped along, keeping an ear out for his phone while he finally set himself to work.


End file.
